The message from Grimly Curmudgeon contains these words:
Astounding. What on earth did they do that for?
The only time I've seen an air filter caked up was on a Metro - actually on two Metros both with the same fault - the exhaust gasket was blowing and soot was being sucked up the inlet heater pipe.
Many years ago they did - I'm pretty certain my Magnette ZA did.
The message from Dave Plowman contains these words:
Certainly ain't common these days!
I did mention it, but it was quite a while ago. Maybe we're on the right track then :-). I had a look last night at the injector part, and there seems to be some oil around where the injector part is. This could indicate that the mixture could be wrong, due to some fuel/air leaking out. The gasket looks like this :
/-------------------\ | | | | \-------------------/ ||| / \ \___/
The two sections aren't really connected, ie. oil etc can't pass through them, but they are joined by rubber to hold them together. The small bottom part is for the injector. The rockerbox cover doesn't just house the rockerbox, the injector goes into it too.
I can't wait until it's fixed. All the mechanics told me that it wasn't worth changing the gasket, and they never suspected that the dodgy gasket could've been related to the pinking etc. When I took my car for a diagnosis I gave the about 1/2 an A4 page with all the details including the dodgy rockerbox gasket!
Yes! I used to run on Optimax all of the time until the petrol prices went up :-(. It had absolutely no effect, not even on fuel consumption :-(
Mechanics eh? Bunch of workshy fops. Lucky you've got the incredibly helpful denizens on this newgroup to help you.
John
Aha. thats the answer. Now I think about it, if the oilseals on the valve stem have been fitted upside down, the action of the air passing them does indeed cause a slight 'farting' noise due to the slightly thinner end of the seal being at the bottom. I'm afraid it means a complete head removal and replacement of the valve seals if this is the case. You will find that the cheaper seals are only a simple 'o' ring whereas the correct ones are a bit oval and have to be fitted with the smaller diameter upwards. Hope this helps.
If it had no effect on the pinking, then the engine's not pinking. Just what do you understand by pinking, and when does it happen, driving conditions wise?
Peter (petermcmillan snipped-for-privacy@yahoo.com) gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying :
Well, no, it wouldn't do. Because your car isn't pinking. If it was, then Optimax would have reduced it.
Again, no, it wouldn't do. Because your car is set up to run fine on 95RON, and has no method for taking advantage of the higher octane.
Must be a weak mixture then :-(
Yes, but what about the higher density of Optimax, and the additives? The RON rating isn't the only difference between Optimax and other petrols.
I took my car to FIAT today for a fuel tank recal. They inspected it and said that it didn't need to be replaced, but during the inspection they seem to have used my passenger window and put my air recirculation on. There are also scratches down the edge of my door (as if it's been opened into something), and I have never noticed them before. I polished my car recently and expected the door after somebody tried nicking it but never saw the scratches :-(
Hmm, the farting noise comes from the exhaust rather than the engine though, is that right? I don't think it is the oilseals. My car's terrible going up hills, it's weird though, going up a hill at 26mph was easier in 3rd than it was in 2nd :-o. I changed from 3rd to 2nd when it got hard, but I had to accellerate to 30mph in 2nd to get the 'pinking noise' to an acceptable level.
Yeah, I am lucky! I've learnt not to use mechanics now. If me and my dad can't fix it, I think I'll let my mum have a go before taking it to a garage ;-).
I mentioned in another post about taking my car for a fuel tank inspection, but for some reason they needed to open the passenger window etc., although maybe it was just hot inside?
I reckon you have the classic symptoms of valve spring vortex failure. when you go uphill the angle of the engine alters slightly and the spring vortex can make and easier route down the stems. This probably also accounts for your coking up as the air is very oily and the oil is not completely burned off in the cylinder. If the oils seals are incorrect on your exhaust valves then you would certainly hear the noise from the exhaust. In the worst cases there is enough turbulence to cause the valves not to close properly and this could account for your lack of power, incidentaly if this does happen there is a distinct clicking noise from the engine. Hope this helps.
In message , pb writes
A mate of mine had that problem and in the end he had to fit some southern hemisphere valve springs which reversed the direction of the valve spring vortex and cured the problem.
Ah yes, the old southern hemisphere valve spring ploy, not many people know that one.
The message from "pat burley" contains these words:
If I'm planning to cross and re-cross the equator - should I have mixed springs? If so, should I have all the inlets southern and all the exhausts northern, or all the inlets northern and all the exhausts southern or some of each? Or perhaps I should have double springs fitted and have the inners set to the hemisphere I'm expecting to spend least time in.
In message , Guy King writes
That's what the crossflow engine was designed for.
The message from Paul Giverin contains these words:
Sod this - I'm off for a Wankel.
I'm pretty sure my Orion did it, because it sucked in the air from the underneath of the filter box, and the MAF sensor was on the hose coming out of the top.
To quote the Haynes BoL...
30 PCV System 1 Function of the crankcase ventilation system.... oil vapours collected in the crankcase, through the air cleaner (filter), into the inlet tract to be burned....The Orion had a little foam oil trap, which overflowed, and caused the bottom of the filter housing to collect crap, which dribbled out of the drain holes.
My Mondeo has the PCV vent pipe downstream of the MAF sensor.
Thinking about it, the Uno _did_ have it on the inside, after the filter.
The problem was it threw out _so much_ shit, it splattered the inside of the filter, bunging it up :-)
Pete.
The message from Pete Smith contains these words:
Ah, now /that/ sounds familiar!
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